The present invention relates generally to an improved venting system of hot exhaust gases from a clothes dryer to atmosphere, in which typically the flow path is usually not straight from the clothes dryer to the dwelling exhaust opening to atmosphere, and in which circumstance a flow component of choice to divert the flow path of exiting exhaust gas from the installation site of the clothes dryer to the site of the dwelling exit opening to atmosphere is a so-called elbow; the venting system improvement hereof being an effective fluid-tight seal at the interconnection of an outlet of a conduit from the clothes dryer to an inlet of the elbow.
In a prior art venting system of the nature involved, using as an example that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,915 for xe2x80x9cExhaust System For Laundry Dryerxe2x80x9d issued to Matemiak on Apr. 4, 1978, at an interconnection of an elbow telescoped about the outlet of a conduit from the clothes dryer, a fluid-tight seal is achieved using an O-ring. While generally effective for the purposes intended, the sealing efficacy of the O-ring is lessened if the manufacturing tolerance of the conduit results in a significantly undersized outside diameter in the conduit. Another drawback is the need to hold the O-ring against longitudinal movement, which is complicated by its spherical shape and thus its propensity to roll, during the telescoping of the two flow components together.
Broadly, it is an object to provide a fluid-tight seal for an exhaust gas venting system overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object to increase to an extent the surface-to-surface contact of the fluid-tight seal so as to account for any diameter size variance in clothes dryer conduit, as well as to simplify maintaining the site of the seal against movement as might adversely effect the seal provided, all as will be better understood as the description proceeds.